Bengals Trade Draft Pick to Jaguars For Pass-Rusher Chris Smith

Purple carrots, red bananas, and four-leaf clovers. These are some of the world’s rarest items. In the NFL, the Cincinnati Bengals making a trade is also an infrequent scenario.

But on Tuesday morning, Mike Brown did just that. The Bengals shipped a conditional 2018 draft pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for defensive end Chris Smith.

Smith was a fifth-round pick in 2014 out of Arkansas. In his final two seasons with the Razorbacks, he totaled 18 sacks and 87 combined tackles.

NFL.com projected Smith would go in the third or fourth round. Here are the strengths and weaknesses from his scouting report.

STRENGTHS

Long arms. Very good take-off, burst and closing speed. Wins with quickness and effort. Plays hard with good urgency and runs to the ball. Good finishing speed and hustle in backside pursuit. Gradually improving strength. Likable personality with natural leadership traits. Has a 37-inch vertical jump.

WEAKNESSES

Lacks functional playing strength and can be controlled easily when big-bodied blockers get their hands on him (see Alabama). Struggles to split the double team. Not a nuanced pass rusher — reliant on upfield speed too much. Can do a better job diagnosing the run more quickly and shedding blocks

Over three seasons with the Jaguars, Smith never made a start. In 19 games, he had 20 combined tackles and 4.5 sacks. Smith had a career-high three sacks in his rookie year. His first career sack came against the Bengals, taking down Andy Dalton in a 33-23 Bengals’ win on November 2, 2014. Smith joins a defensive front that is looking for a stable pass-rusher to team up with Carlos Dunlap. They have already re-signed veteran Wallace Gilberry and lost 2013 second-rounder Margus Hunt.